Masada is the fortress of the desperate. Masada - how the impregnable fortress of king Herod fell

Masada is an ancient fortress located near the Israeli city of Arad, off the southern coast of the Dead Sea. At the top of one of the rocks of the Judean Desert, rising 450 meters above the Dead Sea, in 25 BC. NS. King Herod I the Great built a refuge for himself and his family, significantly strengthening and completing the Hasmonean fortress that existed on this site.

Masada is surrounded on all sides sheer cliffs... Only from the side of the sea a narrow so-called "serpentine path" leads up. You can still climb the fortress along this path. However, now there is another way for tourists - cable car.

The top of the cliff is crowned by an almost flat trapezoidal plateau, which measures approximately 600 by 300 meters. The plateau is surrounded by powerful fortress walls with a total length of 1400 meters and a thickness of about 4 meters, in which 37 towers are arranged. Here were built and have survived to this day, albeit in ruins, - palaces, a synagogue, armories, pits for collecting and storing rainwater and other auxiliary buildings. The fortress was also used to store royal gold.

At the top of one of the rocks, rising 450 m above the Dead Sea, in 25 BC. NS. the king, a descendant of the Edomites who converted to Judaism, built a refuge for himself and his family, significantly strengthening and completing the fortress that existed on this site, built in 37-31 years. BC.

In Masada, many food and weapons supplies were preserved, an elaborate water supply system, baths, modeled on the Roman ones, were arranged. The fortress was also used to store royal gold

On all sides Masada is surrounded by sheer cliffs. Only from the side of the sea a narrow so-called serpentine path leads upward. The top of the cliff is crowned by an almost flat trapezoidal plateau, the dimensions of which are approximately 600 × 300 m.

The plateau is surrounded by powerful fortress walls with a total length of 1400 m and a thickness of about 4 m, in which 37 towers are arranged.

On the plateau, palaces, a synagogue, armories, pits for collecting and storing rainwater and other ancillary buildings were built.

The palace of the king, a synagogue, fragments of mosaics, water reservoirs carved into the rocks, cold and hot baths and much more have been preserved in the fortress.

One of the most striking finds is the synagogue. It was believed that the Jews had no need for synagogues as long as they had the Temple. Masada was reconstructed during the existence of the Second Temple, but a synagogue was nevertheless created in it.

In addition, a synagogue was also found in the ruins of the Gamla fortress. This proved that among the ancient Jews the existence of synagogues did not depend on the existence of the Temple.

In 66 A.D. NS. Masada was taken by the rebellious Zealots, and the Roman garrison was massacred.

In 67 AD, representatives of the radical party settled in Masada, which led the uprising against the Romans, which resulted in a long Jewish war.

In 70 AD, after the capture of Jerusalem by the Roman legions, Masada was the last stronghold rebels. The defenders of the fortress barely numbered about 1,000 people, including women and children, but they held Masada for another 3 years.

About 9 thousand slaves led roads and carried land for the construction of a siege rampart around the fortress and sites for throwing machines and battering rams.

When the Romans succeeded in setting fire to the internal defensive wall, which was additionally built by the Sicarii, consisting of wooden beams, the fate of Masada was decided.

“Not wanting to surrender to the Romans, the Sicarii decided to commit suicide. A lot was thrown, ten executors of the last will were chosen, who killed all the defenders of the fortress, women and children, and then one of them, chosen by lot, killed the rest and committed suicide. The story of the massacre in the fortress was told by a woman who hid in a water reservoir and therefore survived. " Josephus Flavius, "The Jewish War"

For some time, the history of the defense of Masada was considered a legend, but a comparison of Jewish and Roman historical chronicles, including the book "The Jewish War", and archaeological finds on the territory of the fortress, including stone tablets with names, used as lots by ten performers of the last will, convince otherwise.

There is also a version that when the Romans broke through the fortress wall, the defenders of the fortress set fire to all the buildings.

However, human remains and / or graves have never been found on the territory of the fortress (it is worth recalling that we are talking about a thousand people, which is quite a lot for such a relatively small area), therefore, no version has yet found sufficiently strong confirmation.

The ruins of the fortress were first discovered in 1862, while extensive excavations were carried out in 1963-65.

Since 1971, a funicular has been operating on Masada, connecting the foot of the cliff with its top. You can also climb on foot to the gates of the fortress along the "serpentine path" winding along the eastern side of the cliff.

Photo gallery

The interest of the Jewish people has been chained to this fortress for a long time. A thousand men opposed the famous Roman legions for three years. The fortress of Masada in Israel fell, but the people did not surrender. The feat of the people has been entrenched in the minds of mankind for many centuries.

Fortress on the mountain

The fortress is surrounded by steep cliffs, with only one side of it leading to a narrow path called a snake path. At the top of the 450-meter mountain, there is a large plateau measuring about 600 by 300 meters. The plateau is surrounded by a four-meter double wall interspersed with 30 towers and 4 gates. It was on this plateau that all the main buildings of the fortress were built.

Herod's three-tiered palace, rocky reservoirs with water, baths and, most interestingly, a synagogue have been partially preserved to this day. The find of the synagogue proved that in ancient times the existence of synagogues among Jews did not depend on the presence of the Temple, although it was previously believed that the construction of synagogues was not carried out under the existing Temple.

Great history of the great fortress

The ancient fortress of Masada is located near the coast of the Dead Sea near the Israeli city of Arad. Even under the Hasmoneans in 37-31 BC, a fortification was built here. A little later, in 25 BC, with the arrival of King Herod I the Great, a shelter was erected here for his family, and the existing fortress was being completed and strengthened. Weapons and food warehouses are being expanded, the fortress is provided with water supply, and baths are being erected.

Bath

For an indefinite time, Masadu was occupied by the Roman legion. But 66 AD the fortress is recaptured back. In 70, during the Jewish War, Jerusalem is bowed under the onslaught of the legions of the Roman emperor Titus, but Masada still holds the defenses, becoming the last stronghold of the state.

Actually, the fortress is famous not so much for its buildings, location or antiquity, but for the great feat of the Jewish people who left their lives here. But first things first.

Siege of Masada

There were less than 1000 defenders in the fortress, including women and children. But even this alignment allowed her to hold out for three whole years. Almost ten thousand slaves took part in the preparatory work to storm the fortress - ramparts were erected, throwing weapons and a ram were built. The 70-meter siege rampart and the remains of Roman camps have survived to this day. As a result of one of the attempts to break the defense, the Romans manage to set fire to the erected wooden inner wall, and the fate of Masada becomes decided.

Siege shaft. View from the fortress

Further narration is based on the book "The Jewish War" by the historian Flavius Josephus, who retells the story of women who took refuge in a cave with their children. According to him, instead of surrendering, Elzar ben Yair urges people not to incline into slavery, but to die as free people. In order to prevent the invaders from profiting, the men killed their wives and children. Then, among all those who remained, ten were chosen, which was destined to kill all the men. After all were voluntarily killed, this dozen cast lots to determine the only one who was destined to decide the fate of the fortress - to finish off their fellows, set fire to everything and commit suicide. The Romans who came the next morning were left with nothing, but one way or another, the fortress was taken and again took the Roman garrisons.

Siege Tower Foundation

The archaeological research carried out here also confirms the dramatic history. So even the possible nameplates used for the last draw of ten were found.

Draw Plates

Fortress after defeat

In the V-VI centuries during the reign of Byzantium, a church was erected on the site of the fortress. A small group of monks during this period lives here in caves and stone cells.

Church of the Byzantine period

In 1838, E. Robinson first recognized the Masada fortress in the abandoned ruins. In 1851, the first plan of the fortress was created. In the 60s of the XX century, the main research work... And already in 1971 the top of the fortress was connected to the ground by a cable car. But there is also the possibility of climbing up on foot along the same snake path.

Snake trail

The ancient fortress of Masada near the city of Arad is a great symbol of heroism for the Jewish people. Every year, the new composition of the armored forces in the fortress takes an oath - "Masada will not fall again!" With the restoration of the fortress, it has become one of the main attractions of Israel and a place of mass tourists.

Cable car

Formerly desolate areas on the east coast Mediterranean Sea now turned into a flourishing and very developed state of Israel. Over the centuries, its inhabitants had to endure a lot in order to finally find their happiness and independence. And naturally in such a country there are many attractions, one way or another connected with historical events.

About one of these ancient sights with a tragic history will go speech in this article. This is the Masada Fortress. Like the famous one, the fortress is perfect place for shelter from almost all enemies.

The Masada Fortress is located just 5 kilometers from the southwest coast of the Dead Sea.

Fortress Masada on the map

Geographic coordinates 31.317556, 35.354050
Distance from the capital of Israel Jerusalem approximately 55 km in a straight line
The nearest airport is Bar Yehuda (original Bar Yehuda Airfield) about 3 km east, it looks more like a runway in the desert
Better to use Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, 90 km northwest

The name of the fortress was formed from the Hebrew "mezada", which simply means "fortress".
The Masada fortress is built on a flat top of a mountain 450 meters high, located in the Judean Desert. The almost flat surface of the mountain, 270 by 550 meters in size, served as the basis for the construction of a fortress, and later a palace.

The first information about the construction dates back to 37-31 BC. Then, during the reign of the Hasmonean dynasty, a fortress was built here. A little later, around 25 BC. ruler Herod I, having discovered on the mountain structures and buildings suitable for storing provisions, weapons and drinking water, decided to complete, strengthen and equip a full-fledged fortress here.

This decision is completely justified, since King Herod I was, to put it mildly, not entirely loved by his subjects, and preferred to live in places inaccessible and protected. The Masada fortress was perfect for this. The height, inaccessible for arrows and throwing weapons, the sheer cliffs around the perimeter (from 100 to 300 meters) made Masada an impregnable citadel. The only way to get into the fortress was from the side of the Dead Sea. To get to the top, one had to overcome a narrow winding road, nicknamed the "serpentine path". Later, another path to the fortress appeared from the western side, but you will learn about this a little below.

King Herod I was the very ruler who commanded to kill all babies in Bethlehem, fearing the predicted birth of the Savior Jesus Christ. So you can imagine what a vile person he was. His name even later became a household name with a pronounced negative connotation. So he obviously should have feared for his life.
Despite the disgusting character of the king, let us give him his due and celebrate his success in the construction of the Masada fortress.

Unique water supply and water supply systems were built on the territory of the fortress. Rainwater was carefully collected and accumulated in special reservoirs. For this, canals were built from two canyons west of the Dead Sea, through which water entered 12 drainage systems. If necessary, water from the reservoirs was delivered to other places of the fortress by hand. Along the entire perimeter of the plateau, powerful walls were built 4 meters thick and about 5 meters high. The total length of the fortress wall was approximately 1,400 meters.

The device of the wall is interesting. Inside it, premises were equipped (well, that the total 4-meter width was enough), and patrolling was conducted along the upper part. Towers were built every 40 meters. There were 37 of them in total.
The fortress also kept royal gold. For the king and his entourage were built palaces, baths, similar to Roman synagogues. And here it is worth noting one more feature. In those days, the Jews had a Temple, and there was no need to build synagogues, but they were nevertheless built. It turns out that in ancient times the Jews had both Temples and synagogues.

The tragic history of the Masada fortress

The most scary tale occurred in the fortress in 73 AD.
In the 1st century A.D. the territory of modern Israel was under the rule of the Roman Empire, but not all local residents it was to my liking. In 66, the fortress was captured by the Zealots (followers of one of the political and religious Jewish movement and fighters for independence from Rome). In 70 AD, the Roman Emperor suppressed uprisings throughout the entire Jewish territory, except for the fortress of Masada. She held the defense for another three years. The Roman legions tightly besieged the fortress from all sides, but it was not possible to capture it.

Then the Romans decided to build (or rather fill) a road to the Jewish fortification. More than 9,000 slaves worked to create it. They brought and poured earth, built platforms for battering guns and rams. Thus, a second path to the top appeared, along which now you can get to the fortress in half an hour.

The defenders of the fortress reinforced the walls from the inside with wooden structures assembled from the remains of palaces and other buildings. But the Romans managed to set them on fire, thereby predetermining the fate of Masada. The defeat of the Jews was inevitable.
At that time, 960 people remained in the fortress, including women and children. They all gathered together in front of their leader Elazar bin Yair. He delivered a fiery speech in which he urged his fellow tribesmen to prefer death to humiliation and shameful slavery. With all the love for life and self-preservation instincts, the decision was made. 10 people were chosen by lot, who killed everyone, absolutely all residents, from young to old. Then from this dozen they chose one who finished off the nine remaining people, set fire to the entire fortress and committed suicide. At the same time, the premises with provisions and water were left to the invaders as proof that the inhabitants took such a terrible step not at all because of a lack of food and water.

All this horror was learned a little later from several people who miraculously survived. These are two women and five children who managed to hide during the massacre and tell about it later.

Now the Masada Fortress is one of the most famous and iconic landmarks in Israel. At the beginning of the way up the mountain, there is a parking lot and a tourist information center.

The name of the fortress has something in common with the name of the powerful Israeli secret service Mossad, but nothing but phonetic similarity in sound unites them
Despite the fact that the fortress rises 450 meters above the Dead Sea, its height above the absolute sea level is about 50 meters, since
Almost all historical information about the fortress of Masada comes from the first century Jewish Roman historian Josephus Flavius
V modern history the fortress was found in 1862, but large-scale excavations began only a hundred years later in 1963-65
For those tourists who do not want or cannot use the "snake trail" or the Roman embankment, a cable car has been built since 1971
The study of information in the Jewish and Roman chronicles, and the found tablets with names, which, apparently, were used as a lot, prove the reality of those terrible events. But on the other hand, the remains of almost a thousand people have not been found. That is, they are in the annals of Flavius, but modern science cannot prove their existence.
Suicide in Judaism is a grave sin, therefore, in this particular case, everything actually boiled down to one suicide of the very last defender of the fortress
the fortress is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Register

Masada fortress photos

Masada - an ancient fortification on the top of the cliff did not need very high walls: it is surrounded on all sides by steep slopes, and looking down from these rocks is simply breathtaking. The fortress, ascended to the top, remained a symbol of the spirit of the ancient people, who did not submit to foreign invaders. Indeed, it was almost impossible to take the fortress, but the Romans split even not such strongholds, and for the capture of Masada they built such a powerful siege rampart that it has survived to this day.

THREE YEARS OF THE GREAT SIEVE

For more than a thousand days, Masada was defended by the Sicarii rebels against the Romans. The last of them died here, preferring death to shameful Roman slavery.

The Masada Fortress occupies the flat top of a free-standing small plateau, shaped like a rhombus. From here a wonderful view of eastern part The Yiwu Desert and the Dead Sea sparkling under the sun.

There is no exact information about the history of the appearance of the Masada fortress. The Jewish historian and military leader Josephus Flavius (c. 37 - c. 100) wrote that the appearance of the strengthening was obliged to Jonathan Hasmoneus, who headed in 161 BC. NS. Maccabean uprising. However, there is speculation that Flavius was referring to Alexander Yannai (125 - 76 BC), the Jewish king from the Hasmonean dynasty.

In 31 - 37 years BC. NS. the Jewish king Herod I the Great (about 73/74 - 4/1 BC) captured the fortress during the struggle for the throne. He gained fame as a great builder, and Masada underwent a major restructuring during his reign. The fortifications were fortified. In addition, at his behest two luxurious palace, great baths and aqueducts. The latter were urgently needed, since the water at the summit was collected in reservoirs during a short period of precipitation. Herod had many enemies, and Masada seemed to him the best refuge, since it seemed absolutely inaccessible. That is why Herod built a treasury here, where considerable reserves of royal gold were kept.

During the Jewish War 66 - 73 years. Masada became the last stronghold of the rebels against the tyranny of Rome.

When the Romans came to Judea, they found Masada and left a small garrison in it, because to defend the fortress it was enough just to block a couple of paths that led to the top. In 66, at the very beginning of the uprising against Rome, a group of Sicarii (the most radical Jewish group of fighters against the Romans) managed to capture Masada, knocking out a weak Roman garrison from it.

The situation in the war with the Romans was not in favor of the Jews, and the last Sicarii took refuge in Masada after the destruction of the second temple in 70 AD. The premises of the fortress were so vast that a thousand sicarii were established here, equipping a synagogue and a school.

The year 72 came, and Masada still remained the only island of freedom in Judea, which forced the Romans to send the 10th legion here under the command of the procurator Flavius Silva. The Romans built about a dozen camps around Masada, tying them together with a single shaft, which excluded a breakthrough of the blockade.

However, the hope that the besieged would die of hunger and thirst did not come true: the sicarii had an abundance of food, and they received water thanks to an ingenious water supply system.

For several months, 5 thousand Romans and 10 thousand of their allies stood under the walls of Masada, until they decided to take the most difficult path: to build an embankment on the western slope. Only in this way it was possible to bring siege weapons to the walls, which were not able to throw stones and fire from the under-knife of the plateau to the top.

The embankment was folded under the cover of arrows and stones. After seven months of siege, the Romans brought up the siege tower along the embankment and from it managed to set fire to the internal buildings in the fortress.

Seeing all the hopelessness of their situation, all the Sicarii, including women and children, chose to commit suicide rather than surrender.

FORTRESS FULL OF RIDDLES

Not all the secrets of the Masada fortress have already been solved. So, some archaeologists are inclined to believe that there has never been any mass suicide of Jews in the fortress, and this story itself is just a folk tradition.

Today the Masada fortress is the main object national park Masada, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001.

There is no exact information about the history of Masada. Almost all the researchers have at their disposal is a collection of artifacts found in Masada.

For fifteen hundred years, Masada was not remembered: she no longer had a strategic role, and only the most fanatical hermits could live on the top of the plateau.

They started talking about Masada again in the first half of the 19th century, when the Anglo-American expedition reached it. The main excavations were carried out in 1963-1965. The most valuable find - 10 clay tablets-ostracones with names, according to archaeologists, were used as a lot when committing suicide by the defenders of Masada: the last survivor had to set fire to the fortress before his death.

Numerous structures in the fortress, surrounded by a one and a half kilometer thick wall with towers, were also discovered. Among these structures, from which only ruins remain, are palaces, armories, a synagogue and baths.

When the reservoirs carved into the rock were found for collecting and storing rainwater, it became clear how the defenders of the fortress managed to collect and store clean cold water for a long time. The Jews built open plaster-turene canals to drain rainwater from two canyons west of Masada into twelve catchment tanks carved into the northwestern slope of the mountain in two parallel rows (total capacity is about 40 thousand m 2). From here, water was already manually delivered to other cisterns on the top of the mountain, most of them underground.

A striking fact: the embankment made by the Romans has been preserved in excellent condition. Moreover, it can be used to judge the ancient Roman siege technologies: the Romans poured alternately layers of stones and compacted earth, alternating them with thick branches of trees, which served as a kind of reinforcement and gave strength to the entire structure.

Among the ruins of the fortress, the remains of 25 men, women and children were found. In 1969, two years after the victory in the Six Day War, they were buried with military honors.

Despite all these findings, no direct archaeological evidence of the tragedy that occurred in Masada has yet been found.

On the territory of Masada, the ruins of a Byzantine monastery have been preserved, known in archeology as the Lavra of Marda. It is known that there was once a church built by Saint Hieromonk Euthymius the Great (circa 377 - 473), when Ancient Rome here came Byzantium. Just about a century ago, it was destroyed, and in its place, in the second half of the 6th century, another church was built, from which only ruins remained. Lavra briefly outlived the church and was also destroyed around the 5th century.

The Israeli city of Arad is closest to Masada, and the roads that lead from the city to To the dead sea, are a winding mountain serpentine - one of the most dangerous in the country. The city is still very young: it was founded in 1962 by natives of Israel and immigrants from, and today more than half of the city's inhabitants are immigrants from countries. the former USSR working in the hotels of the Dead Sea resorts.

ATTRACTION

Historical:

Fortress Masada (fortress wall, towers, palaces, synagogue, armories, baths, water supply);
Roman embankment;
Byzantine monastery.

Cultural:

Masada National Park;
Museum of the History of Masada;
Visitor Center.

INTERESTING FACTS

There is a version that the word "masada" comes from the Aramaic word "mezad", which means "fortified place."

By the decision of the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Moshe Dayan (1915 - 1981) in Israel, for some time, the IDF soldiers took the oath within the walls ancient fortress Masada, pronouncing the symbolic words of the oath "Masada will not fall again!" - this is a line from a poem by the Israeli poet Yitzhak Lamdan. The ceremony has now been moved to Latrun, 30 kilometers east of Tel Aviv.

In 1981, Soviet émigré film director Boris Sagal filmed the four-part television series Masada. Filming took place at the scene - at the foot of Masada. At the western wall of the plateau there are several siege weapons of the ancient Romans - replicas (reconstructions) made by masters of Hollywood for filming a film about Masada and left right there as a gift to the citizens of Israel.

Archaeologists who claim that Josephus gave an incorrect and, possibly, invented description of Masada, as confirmation, cite the fact that the ancient historian named one palace in Masada, although in fact there were two of them. In addition, at the time of the capture of Masada, Josephus Flavius had long been in Rome.

According to Josephus Flavius, only one old woman and a certain smart woman with five children, who hid when she went to fetch water from an underground reservoir, escaped death in Masada. It was she who told the Romans about what happened in Masada.

One of the seeds of dates found during excavations in Masada germinated in 2005, by 2008 the palm was already 1.2 m high, and now it is higher than 2.5 m.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Location: near the southwestern coast of the Dead Sea.
Administrative affiliation: Southern District, Israel.
Official status: object of the national park
Masada is on the List World heritage UNESCO.
First buildings: 30s BC NS.
Nearest town: Arad (Israel) - 23 400 people. (2009).
Language: Hebrew.
Religion: Judaism.
Monetary unit: new shekel.

Climate: dry climate of deserts and semi-deserts.
Average January temperature: + 11C.
Average July temperature: + 26.5C.
Average annual rainfall: 100 mm.
Relative humidity: 50%.

Plateau length: about 550 m.
Plateau width: 270 m.
The length of the fortress wall: 1400 m.
Fortress wall thickness: about 4 m.
Number of towers: 37.
Height above Dead Sea level: 450 m.
Distance: 20 km east of the city of Arad.